Some movie critics have used the film's release as an excuse to air their disdain for what Martin Mull called the Great Folk Scare Of The Sixties. (Owen Gleiberman in Entertainment Weekly: "The movie is a folkie parody for anyone who, like me, finds the wholesome, tinkly, white-bread vibe of most folk music insipid beyond words. . .") But, actually, that charge betrays a pretty limited view of the era's music. A Mighty Wind's troubadours are exemplars of a poppified folk that record companies in the sixties tried promoting in hopes of supplanting that nasty ol' rock 'n' roll. It was calculatedly homogenous and studio sweetened in ways "purer" folkies initially shunned - as close to folk as Gary Lewis & The Playboys were to the British Invasion.
Too, far from being purely "white-bread," the sixties folk boom also helped birth the blues revival - as folk labels such as Vanguard ventured into Chicago to record and acoustic soloists like Lightnin' Hopkins found an audience in collegiate coffeehouses. There's also no parallel in the movie for either the protest singer a la Baez and Ochs or the Dylanesque wordsmith (though Mickey, in his pre-breakdown solo albums, seems to be venturing into Leonard Cohen depresso territory). The folk tones of Wind are all deliberately Safe, Sane and Sanitized.
But they're also fun to hear, especially if you (like me, as opposed to Gleiberman) have fond childhood memories of viewing network folk packagings like Hootenanny or of hearing Peter, Paul & Mary's prettified "Blowin' In The Wind" on Top Forty. (One of the best final gags in the film revolves around the Folksmen becoming a warped PP&M.) And when the whole cast blows through a group finale singalong of the title anthem, it's hard not be clap along - even as you knowingly snicker at the lyrics. . .
Article comments
1 - Al Barger
I'll just note briefly that this Kingston Trio album above kicks ass.
2 - Bill Sherman
We're in definite agreement here: "Scotch and Soda" is my all-time fave Trio track. (Not a song that the Folksmen could've pulled off. . .)
3 - Al Barger
Dig their version of "Seasons in the Sun" I was something like 12 when Terry Jacks had his hit single with the song. Hunt down both versions. The Kingston Trio was a surprisingly fresh, harsh blast. Fascinating contrast.